Saturday, January 07, 2006

Newsday on the Mine Disaster Communication Mess

He quotes me. I'm not sure if MSHA revised its emergency response procedures in the last two to three years. But they certainly didn't follow tried and true communication practices developed over many such incidents.

The MSHA emergency response manual that we used to follow isn't on the web that I can see. But the agency's accident investigation manual, which is posted (huge PDF file), indicates they could clearly have done more than they did. See Chapter I, section IV, "Authority to Issue Statement." (This is p. 20 of the PDF file.)

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About Me

From 1978 until 2004 I worked as a career civil servant in the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, where my areas of reponsibility included media relations, the Freedom of Information Act, and other aspects of the agency's public information program.